The Old Habit Theory
by flying-kettle
Summary: 25 year old Alexi Chamberlain travels across the pond from the UK to America to continue her studies in Costume Design. She finds herself living with Sheldon and Leonard: two incredibly smart yet incredibly geeky guys, meeting their equally geeky companio
1. Chapter 1

Alexi sat on the top step of the stairwell and leant against the red brick wall. Wiping the beads of sweat from her brow she reached inside the pocket of her cardigan and pulled out her mobile and a tiny slip of paper with a phone number scribbled on it. She dialled the number and mumbled under her breath: "You'd better pick up!"

Leonard hurriedly collected a stack of papers on his desk, slung his bag over his shoulder and dashed out of his office and down the corridor to meet Sheldon for lunch. As he approached Sheldon's office he could hear his phone ringing. The office door was open and he could see Sheldon madly scribbling on his whiteboard, no doubt trying to solve some incredibly difficult mathematic problem.

"Sheldon…Sheldon… SHELDON THE PHONE!" He shouted.

Sheldon dismissively shook his hand in the air and told Leonard to answer it. He picked up and was bombarded by an angry female voice.

"Do you have _any _idea how long I've been waiting here? Or just how long it's taken me to cart all these boxes up god knows how many flights of stairs because the sodding lift is broken? You said there'd be someone here to meet me when I arrived and so far there's been no-one!"

"I..uh..who?.."

"Who is this? You're asking who this is. This just so happens to be your new flatmate pal!"

"One moment please."

Leonard covered the mouthpiece of the phone and yelled: "_Sheldon you idiot! Our new roommate arrived today and you didn't stay to help her move in!"_

Sheldon finally detached his stare from his board and looked at Leonard.

"I must have forgotten." He said with a nonchalant tone.

"How could you forget? Oh my god…" Leonard went back to the angry soon to be roommate who was still seething on the other end of the phone.

"I'm so sorry to have you waiting like this. The girl who lives in the apartment across the hall from us has our spare key. Knock on her door and she'll let you in. Sheldon and I will be around as soon as possible to help you move in."

"Yeah cheers mate." She said sarcastically and hung up.

It took a lot for Alexi to get angry but the fact that she had to single handedly carry at least 20 enormous cardboard boxes filled with all manner of things up countless flights of stairs with no assistance whatsoever, really got her goat.

Leaving her cardboard box fortress she went across the hall and knocked on the apartment where she was informed she'd find a girl with a spare key. Within moments the door opened and a blonde girl of an average height with a warm smile stood in front of her.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm Alexi Chamberlain, I'm meant to be moving into the flat across the hall but nobodies there to let me in and I was told you had a spare key."

"Oh right. Well first of all hi; my name's Penny. Nice to meet you!" Penny extended a hand and Alexi shook it. Penny took a key from a small bowl beside her door and motioned Alexi to follow her.

"So, you're not from around here are you?" She asked.

"No not at all. I'm from a city called Bristol in England." Alexi replied.

"Oh sweet! England!" Penny replied with genuine interest, "So are you into all that science stuff like Sheldon and Leonard?"

"Me? Science? Oh god no. I'm studying a Masters Degree in Costume Design. I just completed an Honours Degree in London."

"Wow, I wish I had the skills and smarts to do something creative like that!" Penny said in awe. "Well, here you are. Your new apartment!"

Alexi surveyed her surroundings and was distinctly impressed with all the scientific paraphernalia that seemed to clutter every corner her eyes could see. And stacks of video games by the TV: an X-Box, a Nintendo Wii and a Playstation. Every Sci-Fi movie ever made was chronologically ordered on a shelf next to dozens of books on science and maths.

"Do you want some help moving these boxes in?" Penny asked as she moved towards the door.

"Oh yes thank you, I'd appreciate that!" Alexi replied.

They both started pulling and carrying boxes into the living room. Penny would enquire as to what made each one heavier than the last and Alexi would inform her that she owned 2 industrial sewing machines, a machine embroiderer, an overlocker and 2 standard dress forms. Of course, there were also boxes with her clothes, books, crockery and cutlery: standard items anyone would have.

Penny went outside to fetch a suitcase for Alexi and heard hurried footsteps coming up the stairwell. She stopped and waited to see who was coming up and giggled when she saw Leonard gasping for air and reaching for the banister.

"Is…she…inside…the…apartment?" He panted.

"Settling in as we speak." Penny replied.

"Thanks…for your…help Penny."

Leonard went on in and saw a tall girl with short blonde hair and thick rimmed glasses un-packing a box full of plates and bowls and setting them on the kitchen worktops.

"Hi I'm Leonard. Listen, I'm sorry about there not being anyone here to help you move in. My other roommate Sheldon was supposed to of taken the day off work to see that you arrived safely."

The girl smiled and shook her head.

"Look its water under the bridge now. I'd hate for us to get off to a bad start. I'm Alexi."

She extended her hand and smiled radiantly.

"Nice to finally meet you Alexi."

"So where is your other roommate exactly?" She asked.

Leonard rolled his eyes. "Supposedly on the verge of a scientific breakthrough." He replied. "Hey you must be really tired from moving all these boxes upstairs. How about you sit down and I'll get you a drink? Penny do you want something to drink?"

Penny set the suitcase down by the couch.

"I'm okay thanks Leonard. I'll swing by later and see how you're getting on Alexi."

She waved goodbye and closed the door behind her.

Leonard made a big cup of sweet milky tea for Alexi and asked her all sorts of questions like what was it like being a costume designer and how she enjoyed studying in London and what made her move all the way to America to study a masters degree. He seemed like a genuinely lovely guy who was very interested in what she had to say but she felt herself yawning as she replied to each of his queries.

"Oh I'm sorry I keep yawning. Would you mind if I used the shower to freshen up a bit? I feel a bit grubby."

"Sure go ahead." Leonard replied, "There's towels in the bathroom, just don't use the Batman one, that's Sheldon's."

"Oh okay, cheers!"

She took some toiletries and a change of clothes from her suitcase and made her way to the bathroom.

She laughed at the Periodic Table shower curtain and was perplexed at the sight of a toothbrush under a UV light. She put out her shampoos and shower gels beside the bath and set her clothes down on the toilet seat. Switching on the shower she let the room fill with steam before stepping in under the hot water.


	2. Persuasion technique: Sucessful

"I was _so _close I could almost smell the Nobel Prize!"

"And then what happened?"

"What happened? Oh I'll tell you what happened! Leslie is what happened!"

"Again?"

"Leonard, she practically erased my whole theorem and re-arranged it so that the binomial equations and quadratic formulae 'looked normal'."

Leonard couldn't help but smirk as Sheldon shot him a deathly glare.

"Well maybe you should have been more concerned with the new roommate moving in. Do you know how angry she was that no-one was here to let her in?"

"You could have stayed behind." Sheldon replied with that same nonchalant tone he used earlier.

"_You _said you were taking the day off especially!" Leonard replied lividly.

"So?"

"Oh forget it! I'm going down to the laundry room. Why don't you be useful and move some of those boxes into her bedroom."

Leonard stomped off slamming the front door behind him, leaving Sheldon sat on the couch with a bewildered expression. He let a few moments pass before he got up and started slowly shifting boxes across the living room and into the empty bedroom opposite his room.

As he passed the bathroom he could hear singing: A female voice singing.

He stopped to listen but the bathroom door swung open and a tall blonde haired girl with soft hazel eyes and fair skin stared into his blank expressionless face.

"Sheldon I presume?" She asked.

He just nodded.

Alexi noticed they both had the same shirt on: a blue short sleeved t-shirt with the Superman logo on the front.

"Good taste in shirts eh?" She remarked.

Sheldon continued to stare blankly before blurting out "I'm putting these boxes in your room."

Alexi simply smiled, feeling slightly baffled at Sheldon's apparent incapability to carry a conversation.

Nevertheless she followed him into her new bedroom, carrying one of her dress forms under her left arm and her sewing case in her right hand.

"So you do science stuff then?" She asked, trying to generate some conversation.

"Yes, but it's so much more than just _stuff._" Sheldon replied.

"Oh?"

"I have a PhD so what I do for a living can hardly be regarded in such loose terms. And what on _earth _is in this box?" He asked as he gave it a great heave onto the bed.

Alexi went over and using her thumbnail slashed through the packing tape, gently removed the bubble wrap and slowly withdrew a bundle of Victorian looking corsets.

"I made these for my Masters Degree interview project. A whole set of reproduction Victorian undergarments. Pretty nifty don't you think?"

She seemed to be fishing for some sort of compliment which mad Sheldon very wary of replying so he just made a non-committal noise in the back of his throat and started emptying books onto a bookshelf.

Alexi sighed; partly out of desperation. This Sheldon wasn't much of a talker and something in his way of moving around made him seem awkward.

He was tall, just slightly more than Alexi was, and had possibly the most interesting eye colour: a light blue with a slight suggestion of violet.

She couldn't help but stare and Sheldon seemed to notice this.

"What is it?" He asked, looking around the room quite quickly.

"Your eyes are amazing." Alexi replied quite matter of factly.

Sheldon felt completely dumbstruck. No-one, let alone a girl (well maybe his mother and that one time Penny got _really _drunk) had ever commented on his eye colour or the fact that they're apparently 'amazing'.

"…Thank you I guess." He mumbled.

"I wish I had eyes like yours; fancy coloured I mean. I got coloured contact lenses a while ago but they made me look ridiculous so I'm sticking with these babies! Even though sometime I think I look ridiculous in them too." Alexi said as she tapped the rim of her oversized glasses. "Oh, I just remembered I was meant to call my family when I arrived! I'll be right back."

Alexi sat herself down on the couch and dialled home to England. About a minutes worth of ringing passed before she heard her mum's familiar voice on the other end of the line.

"Hello mum!" Alexi said excitedly, "I've moved in!"

"Oh thank God, I was beginning to worry! Was there someone there to meet you when you arrived?"

"Yeah, a guy called Sheldon." Alexi lied.

"And what are your new flatmates like?" Her mum asked.

"Well I don't really know them properly yet," Alexi sighed, "They seem nice enough."

Alexi's mum continued to natter on just as Leonard was coming through the apartment door carrying a heavy load of laundry. He seemed to be struggling so Alexi gave him a hand carrying it into the living room.

"Who was that you were talking to?" Leonard enquired.

Alexi slipped her phone into the back pocket of her jeans and told Leonard she'd just called her mum back in England.

"So, how d'ya like the look of the apartment so far?"

"I must say," Alexi began, "that I am very impressed with all the scientific things. You guys must be _really _involved with your work."

"Well that's us: We love science." Leonard said.

"And the kitchen looks gorgeous by the way."

"It does?"

Leonard was confused. Guys don't really have a tendency to keep kitchens looking 'gorgeous'. But he supposed that living with someone who was as much of a neat freak as Sheldon Cooper then maybe, just maybe, their kitchen could be described as 'gorgeous'.

"Do you cook?" Leonard asked.

Alexi's face practically lit up.

"If I'm not working at my sewing machine I'm making a big roast dinner or baking cakes. Mum always joked that if costume design ever went tits up then I could open a tea shop!"

Leonard laughed.

As Alexi continued talking Leonard could see Sheldon coming out of Alexi's room.

"Hey I was wondering, how about we call Howard and Raj and invite them over for Thai food? We can ask Penny over too, to welcome our new roommate." Leonard suggested.

Sheldon pursed his lips and dramatically rolled his eyes.

"Leonard," he said, "I think you're forgetting what today is."

"The 23rd?" He replied, completely unaware at what Sheldon was trying to get at.

"Yes the 23rd but what _day _is it exactly?"

"Wednesday." Alexi butted in.

"And Wednesday night's are reserved for Halo." Sheldon said toward Alexi. "I think we'll have to forgo the welcoming ceremony."

"Well I'm sure Howard and Raj will be able to sacrifice one Wednesday and I'm sure you can muster up the courage too!"

"C'mon Sheldon. For me?" Alexi said as she fluttered her eyelashes. "Heck, I even _like _Halo! Well, I prefer Tomb Raider but I like Halo too!"

Sheldon seemed torn and pondered quietly for a moment.

"Well I suppose we can combine Thai food and Halo. Just this once though."


	3. Game on!

Alexi practically beamed with happiness and after thanking both Leonard and Sheldon profusely, went back to un-packing.

A few hours later and the living room was clear of boxes and cases. Alexi could finally move around without falling or tripping. She brought her laptop out of her room and sat down on the couch with it, checking her e-mails and Facebook page. She marvelled at the fact that all her past acquaintances from school and college days gone by had all come crawling out of the woodwork with good wishes of fortitude and luck in her new life in the USA. She perused through the photo album her close friend Jane had put together of pictures from her leaving party at The Birdcage Club 3 weeks ago.

Leonard sat on the chair next to Alexi and began to ask her more questions.

"Y'know for a bloke you are remarkably inquisitive." She observed.

"Oh I'm sorry, I don't mean to press for so much…" He replied quietly.

Alexi looked up from the laptop screen and smiled reassuringly; saying that it was okay and she didn't _really _mind the questions.

"So you've always been artistic?" He enquired.

"As a matter of fact no. Until my final years of secondary school, or high school as you'd call it, I'd been quite into science like yourself and Sheldon."

At hearing this titbit of information, Sheldon who had until now been standing in the kitchen making a green tea, had walked over to the couch and sat himself down next to Alexi.

"So why didn't you pursue a career in science?" Sheldon asked, sounding almost angry.

Alexi was rather taken aback and simply replied:

"My tutor had a nervous breakdown."

Sheldon's face went blank, he stood up and he retorted with:

"So you chose the arts over science?"

"What's the problem with that?" Alexi asked as she set her laptop down, "I still involve science in the work I do nowadays…just in more obscure ways."

"How so?" Sheldon persisted.

"Well… my dad is a science teacher in a secondary school and I made him a suit and lined it with fabric that was covered with different scientific formulae."

"Maybe you should make Sheldon one?" Leonard interjected, trying to ease the situation a little.

Alexi turned to Leonard and raised an eyebrow.

"Only if he can prove to me he deserves one." She cheekily replied.

There was a knock on the door and Sheldon went over to answer it. Penny, Howard and Raj were stood on the other side each holding a bag of Thai food.

"Fire up the gaming platform because Wolowitz is on a roll tonight!" Howard proclaimed as he marched into the apartment and strode towards Leonard. "And who might this lovely young thing be?"

He looked directly at Alexi who was trying her hardest to stifle a laugh.

"I'm Alexi, Sheldon and Leonard's new roommate."

Howard took Alexi's hand which she'd offered to him, thinking he would shake it politely like any _normal _human being, but he took hold of it and firmly planted a kiss on it. To say Alexi was shocked was an understatement but ever the mistress of cool, calm and collected, she maintained her decorum and smiled. Leonard rolled his eyes and pulled Howard away to one side as Alexi was introduced to the rest of their friends.

Penny whom she had already met was ever so cheerful and bright and Sheldon and Leonard's other friend; Raj, seemed quiet and awfully shy, not saying a word to Alexi since he stepped into the apartment.

"Nervous around girls huh?" She asked Penny.

"Yep, slip him a few drinks and you can't shut him up though."

"Oh isn't that the case with most men?" Alexi replied.

"And aint it the truth!"

Sheldon and Raj were in the kitchen getting plates, cutlery and place mats whilst the others were at the TV setting up the game.

"So what is she like?" Raj asked.

"I don't know."

"But…you must have talked to her." He persisted.

"It was more a case of _she _talked to _me. _I couldn't get a word in edgeways. She seems very direct and slightly bossy."

Raj laughed.

"A little like you then!" He joked.

Sheldon gave Raj a deathly glare.

"No woman could ever match me. Ever."

"Hey guys quit the chitter chatter and get over here! C'mon serious gaming is about to begin!" Leonard shouted.

Penny and Alexi were sat on the couch talking about girl stuff when Sheldon turned around and held a controller in front of Alexi's face.

"You'll be needing this." He said flatly.

"Oh not just yet, I never game on an empty stomach." She replied as she leant forward to help herself to noodles and spicy prawns, "I'll just watch for now, I'll learn your weaknesses." She joked.

"Sheldon has none." Leonard informed her.

"Oh what? Of course he does, everyone does!"

"No Leonard's right, Sheldon is pretty much weakness free." Howard added.

Penny giggled as Alexi's jaw dropped.

"I absolutely refuse to believe that Sheldon doesn't have weaknesses." Alexi stated.

Sheldon turned around and pursed his lips in annoyance.

"_Because everyone has weaknesses!" _She persisted.

"Name yours then." Said Sheldon.

"Alright; Tea, Pan Dan cake, David Bowie and Lord Byron Poetry."

Sheldon rolled his eyes and went back to playing Halo with Howard and as Alexi turned around and looked at Penny, Penny simply said "He's like that all the time so don't worry; you'll get used to it."

Alexi certainly hoped she would. She'd only lived with guys once when she was studying her BA and the guys she lived with then were lovely and polite. Sure, Leonard seemed nothing short of affable but she was still trying to figure out why Sheldon was so sharp and unrelenting.

"_Best not dwell on it now." _She thought to herself.

"Right, I've eaten now. Who am I up against?" Alexi announced as she clapped her hands in anticipation.

"You're going against Howard and me." Leonard told her as he passed her a controller.

Howard sidled up to Alexi and let her know he'd go easy on her as he thought (foolishly) that she was a first timer playing Halo. She looked at him and feigned thankfulness.

"Oh I hope I'm good at this!" She joked. Leonard sniggered, he obviously knew she'd probably kick Howard ass.

About 45 minutes passed and Alexi let out a triumphant whoop and threw her hands in the air. Howard, looking a mixture of dismayed and impressed, sank into the couch next to Sheldon and Penny.

"Well I am shocked, who knew that women could be so good at video games?" Sheldon said.

Alexi looked at him, he did seem genuinely impressed.


	4. A new day

Sheldon was still harping on about how the female species are usually inept at gaming; serious gaming anyway, nobody was paying any real attention to him. Howard rolled out a DDR mat from his bag and asked Alexi for a re-match on a game he found more 'to his personal level'.

"Nah thanks don't think I'll be so co-ordinated with a belly full of Thai food! Besides it's getting late and I have to be up early tomorrow to go and fetch my new car." She replied as she casually stretched her arms up in the air, accidentally knocking Sheldon on the back for which she quickly apologised. He stared at her for a moment, turned away and shuddered.

"Anyway, it's been such fun meeting you guys, we should do this again sometime."

Howard, Raj and Penny said their goodbyes and left. Leonard and Alexi began clearing plates and general mess away as Sheldon sat at his desk tapping away on his laptop.

"You gonna help us clean up?" Leonard asked him.

Sheldon gazed intently at the screen in front of him.

Leonard took the absence of reply as a 'no' and both he and Alexi carried on cleaning. Alexi rolled up her sleeves so she could delve into the soapy water in the sink when Leonard noticed a blur of colour on her arm: a tattoo.

"That looks cool!" He said as he pointed to it.

Alexi looked down at her arm and raised her eyebrows.

"This old thing?" She said, "I'm growing tired of it really. It was an ill-advised piece of body art at the age of 16…I was such a rebel. My parents wouldn't speak to me for weeks when I got it. I have more though…better ones!"

She pulled up her t-shirt and pulled her jeans down a little over her hip to show a line of Japanese style lotus blossoms in soft pink and bright cherry red.

"Oh and wait a sec, there's another one here!"

She pulled the neck line of her t-shirt so Leonard could see the cusp of her bra, snaking just above her right breast was a shooting star.

"Very…interesting." He said, blushing somewhat.

Alexi felt a bit silly, having realised she kind of semi exposed herself to someone.

Checking the clock she noticed the time was 12:30. Bed time.

"Night guys, see you both in the morning!"

* * *

The laundry room always smelt so fresh and comforting in the morning. Penny often stood in the middle of it for a few moments just breathing in the scent before she'd collect her laundry. However this little slice of idyll was punctured by Sheldon rushing in and out to collect his own laundry: a freshly washed bundle of various super hero t shirts; one of which he would proudly wear to work later.

"Burnt the midnight oil eh sweetie?" Penny said as she noticed Sheldon yawn.

He nodded, blearily rubbing his eyes.

"That breakthrough just inches away from your grasp…well good luck!"

Penny left Sheldon to collect the rest of his clothes from the drier and he too went back to his apartment.

Leonard was in the kitchen eating breakfast.

"Have you seen Alexi yet this morning? She said she had to be in early for her enrolment ceremony."

"No…she's probably still in bed. I don't suppose she'll be up for a while…she seems the type to lie in and oversleep."

"That doesn't sound judgmental at all…" Leonard muttered under his breath.

They both suddenly heard a shrill ringing noise, an alarm clock no doubt, coming from Alexi's room. This was shortly followed by a grand display of 'gymnastics' as Alexi attempted to vault over2 boxes that were blocking her doorway. She ended up in a heap and swore loudly with great emphasis.

"Good morning to you too!" Sheldon called out, craning his head around to see if Alexi was still in a tangle of limbs on the floor.

She'd got up and brushed herself off, rubbing her elbow where she'd landed with a thud.

"Cup of tea?" Leonard asked, holding the kettle.

"Oh yes please, I don't really function in the morning correctly without one." Alexi replied.

She sat herself on a small stool by the breakfast bar and continued to rub her elbow. Sheldon took a quick look at her and noticed she was rather scantily clad in something that could hardly be described as nightwear; just a thin vest and a small pair of shorts. All her limbs seemed to go on for miles, she had extraordinarily long toned legs and arms and her posture was impeccable.

Sheldon snapped out of his momentary daze (a rare occurrence for him) and began packing things in his bag for work.

"Hey where's you lab at?" Alexi asked Sheldon as he made his way to the door to leave.

"The main Caltech campus" He replied with a cautious air, "…Why do you ask?"

"Well my university is in that direction, I can give you a ride on the back of my motorcycle if you want?"

Sheldon's eyes widened in horror; the thought of going on a motorcycle again made him feel sickeningly nervous. Leonard stepped in by saying that Sheldon had had some less than savoury experiences on motorcycles.

"Fair enough," Alexi said with a grin, "have a good day at work."

Sheldon left and Alexi and Leonard carried on a conversation.

"Do you want a lift to work?" She offered.

"No I drive thanks though."

There was a bit of a silence. Alexi rubbed her forehead thinking for a moment.

"Does Sheldon find me annoying or something? I'm getting bad vibes from him…like I've pissed him off."

Leonard was very quick to dispel this, telling Alexi that it would take a while for Sheldon to come to terms with a newcomer into their small circle of friends.

Alexi felt better that it'd been cleared up and excused herself from the kitchen to get dressed.

Looking at her alarm clock and noticing she didn't have much time left in which to get ready, she reached for the nearest clothing items to hand: an old Alice Cooper t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, leather jeans, leopard print headscarf and biker jacket.

She pulled on a pair of boots, grabbed her bag and bike helmet and ran through the apartment waving goodbye to Leonard as she sped past him.


	5. Knock out

He'd arrived before anyone else in the faculty, as was the norm for Sheldon, and shut himself away in his office and got to work.

As he began to furtively scribble out theorems in a notebook lying on his desk he found himself striving more than usual; his normal effortless flow of thought wasn't there at all.

"_Concentrate Sheldon, concentrate!" _ He thought to himself, staring intently at his notebook.

But no, nothing seemed to be working.

He sighed heavily in annoyance, pushed his work away from himself and decided to take a walk around the department to try and clear his head.

The lecture hall was packed and boiling hot. One side of the hall was glass fronted and the sun was beaming through and baking those sitting nearest. People slowly filtered in and took a seat, chattering away apprehensively to the person next to them.

Alexi looked around at all the new faces, hundreds of faces, how many of them would she make friends with?

Still looking around and assessing her surroundings, she had failed to notice a guy sit down next to her.

"Hi."

She turned around startled out of her daydream to look at this stranger.

"_Fuck me!" _She said to herself.

He was quite the looker: tanned skin, dark floppy hair slightly obscuring a set of brown sleepy looking eyes.

"Hi, I'm Alexi." She managed to say, trying helplessly not to look like a puppy dog eyed fool.

"Carter." He replied, extending his hand which Alexi shook listlessly, losing herself in his good looks, "What course are you on?"

"MA Costume Design."

"Oh nice," He said with a nod and a smile.

Alexi felt her face flush red and she began to tap her feet on the floor; a trait she displayed when uncommonly nervous.

"And umm…what about yourself, what course are…uh...you on?" She asked.

"MA Music Production."

"So are you in a band or something?" She asked him as she leaned towards him slightly.

"Yeah, I am actually. We're playing some bar tonight if you wanna come along?"

Alexi felt her belly fizz with excitement: cute guy in a band asking her to his gig that evening could only spell an amazing time.

But then she remembered that Leonard had asked her to be 'group leader' for his team for 'Singstar' night.

Her heart dropped. She felt a certain sense of duty that told her she had to stay in with Leonard, Sheldon and the rest of their gang, but another more overwhelming feeling of anticipation for the chance to mix and mingle with new people.

"ANSWER THE DAMN PHONE SHELDON!" Leonard yelled from Sheldon's office door.

Sheldon snapped out of his daydream and surfaced from the pages of the book he was buried in: What does a woman want by Serge Ande. Leonard snickered when he spied the title.

He dropped the book on his desk and picked up the phone.

"Hey Sheldon, it's Alexi."

She seemed to be in a very noisy place.

"Listen I'm going to have to bail out on Singstar night tonight. Y'see there's this gig for new students at a bar somewhere downtown and I want to go and meet everyone. You don't mind do you?"

Sheldon placed his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone and turned to Leonard.

"Alexi said she won't be able to make this evening's Singstar tournament, some other more pressing social engagement has arisen, what shall I tell her?"

"That's fine I guess, ask her when she'll be back." Leonard told him.

Sheldon put the phone to his ear again.

"Leonard wants to know when you'll be back."

"Oh…late I suppose. I'm sorry to do this to you guys because I know I promised and everything."

Sheldon paused for a moment.

"It's okay, have fun. Goodbye."

And he hung up the phone and went back to his book.

"Wasn't that a bit harsh even for you?" Leonard said.

Still engrossed in his book Sheldon didn't bother to look up. He merely turned a page as he explained to Leonard "It's just how I am."

"_Thanks for such an awesome night; I had a lot of fun."_

"_No problem, I'm glad you enjoyed it. You know, you've got a good voice on you as well. Maybe we should collaborate sometime?"_

"_Really? I'd like that."_

"_Well, just to make sure I can see you again, take this."_

She felt the beads that he'd put around her neck and held them in her hand. She closed her eyes and remembered how they'd almost kissed. She leant herself against the apartment door for stability, thinking that at any moment she'd keel over in some kind of dreamy daze.

"Alexi is that you?"

The door opened sending her crashing to the floor, knocking her head on the doorstep.

"Smooth move Sheldon!" Howard quipped as he hastily got up from his chair to see if Alexi was okay.

Everyone had crowded around her except for Sheldon who was too scared to go near.

"Give her a bit of space guys!" Leonard shouted.

Alexi wasn't moving much, just mumbling and squinting her eyes.

"Alexi…Alexi are you okay?"

Leonard put his hand on the back of her head to try and support her but felt something warm and wet. He quickly removed his hand and saw that it had been stained red with blood. He ran to the kitchen sink to scrub it off as quickly as he could.

"Sheldon, this is your fault! You deal with it!"

Sheldon tentatively moved towards Alexi who was still laying halfway in-between their apartment and the hallway. Not sure whether he should try and lift her head up or leave her lying down he just knelt beside her.

"Alexi…Alexi…Alexi…are you okay? It's Sheldon, can you hear me?"

She slowly rolled her head toward him and blinked.

"Sheldon, my head really hurts."

And then she started sobbing.

"Oh no…no no…Ssshh!"

Sheldon, without thinking, picked her up into his arms. She was surprisingly light.

"Howard, Raj…open her bedroom door and clear whatever's on her bed. It's likely she'll suffer from a concussion."

"Then shouldn't we take her to the hospital?" Raj suggested as he tried to get in Sheldon's way.

"No, like Leonard said, this is my fault so I'll take care of her."


End file.
